BMW is going all-in on its use of an innovative process the company has termed "direct recycling." The renowned car brand announced a fresh investment of about $10.4 million (€10 million) in the method with a new Lower Bavaria facility.
That commitment builds on previous success with the method at BMW Competence Centres in Munich and Parsdorf. Now, at a much larger scale, the car company anticipates recycling battery cell material in the mid-double-digit ton range annually.
Direct recycling takes both whole battery cell and residual material from battery cell production, and mechanically breaks them down "into their valuable components," according to the press release. From there, raw materials like lithium and cobalt can be quickly reinserted into the cell production cycle.
This process "dispenses with the previously common energy-intensive chemical or thermal processing" that characterizes returning materials back to their original state, per BMW.
"From development and pilot production to recycling, we are creating a closed loop for battery cells," said BMW's SVP of battery production, Markus Fallböhmer. Fallböhmer asserted the nearness of the coming facility to production will ensure that BMW is "taking advantage of the short distances between our Competence Centres in Bavaria." Overall, the new configuration "prevents valuable raw materials from being lost," and gets them quickly back into circulation for new batteries.
This move by BMW is a positive step as scientists and companies take on the critical task of finding the best ways to recycle EV batteries. While the resources used to mine for the precious materials used in the batteries don't approach those needed for dirty energy sources, it's still worthwhile to maximize what is already out there.
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Rival German auto brand Mercedes-Benz also recently announced plans for its own recycling facility. Scientists, meanwhile, like those in South Korea and at Rice University in Houston, are on the prowl looking to optimize recycling EV batteries with cheaper and more efficient methods.
Other groups, including auto-maker Porsche, are taking a different approach and trying to improve on conventional EV batteries with solid-state options offering plenty of upgrades.
Improvements along these lines could vastly boost EV range, safety, charge speed, and battery durability while leading to lower-priced vehicles. Finding cheaper materials like sulfur to form the foundation of batteries is another approach to getting the price down and charge speed up.
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While it remains to be seen how the evolution of EV batteries will shake out, BMW's sizable cash investment in direct recycling is a definite positive in bolstering the sustainability of EVs. The new Competence Centre is slated to begin taking shape in the second half of 2025 and eventually will feature 20 employees working in the facility.
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